Isla Holbox! No. Isla Holbosssh. Isla HolBOSSH our guide Eve corrected my simplistic Aussie pronunciation of the name of the small Mayan fishing village that would be known as home for the next week. Obviously my spanglish needs some work but I knew the spanish word for the fish that our group of eclectic anglers had travelled from all parts of the world to fish for: SABALO. Or the now famous popular American term, The Silver King. Over the past few years diehard saltwater flyfishermen have become obssessed with tarpon with the release of a series of films, most notably those by Jamie Howard and his Chasing Sillver trilogy, depicting the insane, titilating antics of chasing tarpon on a fly. It was one of these films that finally pushed the obssessive compulsive button in my brain to commit to a trip in search of a tarpon. The destination.... Isla Holbox(ossh).
Isla Holbox has a history that is worthy of being a place to travel halfway around the world. A haven for refugees, the Mayans where the first to inhabitant, escaping the civil wars before abandoning the island most probably due to the smashing of the inevitable hurricanes that rip through this area. In the 1500’s the island became the hideout of pirates and it is was one of these rougues who’s actions resulted in the naming of the island. It is rumoured that Franscisco de Molas buried his treasure here and cut off the head of his African body gaurd to watch over it. From this account the island was originally called “Pool box” meaning “black head” which was later bastardised by Dutch settlers to its present name. Apparently the head appears in the dreams of islanders trying to divulge the whereabouts of the treasure only to scare them all away.
What you will find today is a tranquil fishing village that has avoided the glitzy trappings of the south eastern Yucatan coast, a village that is colourful, where the only thing that can run you over is a golf cart and probably the best tarpon fishery in all of Mexico. Holbox sits off the Northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula and is right in the path of the northward spawning migration of tarpon from the southern Caribbean. Holbox is unique in that it also provides over 55 square kilometers of ideal juvenile tarpon habitat. The extensive mangrove lined creeks and bays that extend throughout the island hold fish of all sizes. Over the week that we spent fishing these waters we caught tarpon from 1lb through to 130lb. The whole family tree.
Seasonal movements
Fly fishermen have been following (or sitting and waiting in anticipation) the seasonal migration of tarpon for many years. Most head to the most famous of locations in Florida where big fish on shallow flats draw anglers from around the world. While much is still unknown about the precise movements of tarpon throughout the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean waters fishermen have at least worked out what times of year the numbers of big tarpon turn up.
At Isla Holbox pods of rolling tarpon first show there silver shoulders late April/early May and their prescence off the coast will run through to October before disappearing to unknown waters. Of course, the babies who inhabit the mangroves and shallow flats are present year round where they continue to feed and mature.
Migrating tarpon are like the latest fashions, here today gone the next, as has been shown by some of the satellite tagging research of Bonefish and Tarpon Unlimited (BTU) whereby tagged tarpon have been shown to have swam over 100 miles in a 4 day period. This means that while one day the seas may seem dead then next you can be greeted by flashes of silver in all directions and thats how our week began.
Approach with Care
Our first morning saw us wake, early, to a dead calm sea and a clear blue sky. Fly fishings utopic vision. As you can imagine we were a buzzing, bumbling bunch eager to get out on the water and meet the silver king. Our guide Eve was up, it was the first day in a week that the wind was not blowing, and you could sense his eagerness as well. The short run outside had us sitting over an invisible mark known only to some satellite floating high above and the coordinates programmed into Eve’s gps. The fishing for Holbox’s tarpon is not the shallow water flats fishing of the Keys or the dirty water river mouth fishing of Costa Rica, but open ocean chasing yoyoing schools of tarpon. A cat and mouse chase. The effort not so much in the fly choice or presentation but in the setting of the trap.
Within half an hour of our arrival we saw our first school of rolling tarpon. And then another and another until it seemed we were surrounded by groups of rolling fish all headed in their own chaotic direction. And this is where the problem lay. Which one to chase? The theory is that you find the school, position the boat in front of the approaching school, cast, let fly sink, then hold on as 100lb + of tarpon makes its best impersonation of a submarine missile launch. However 10 minutes would be spent following a school trying to jockey the boat into a reasonable casting position only for another school to pop up and draw our attention away for the chase. There was no pattern to the movements and therefore it was virtually impossible to try and set a trap.
Despite a frustrating day of chasing silver with little opportunity to cast, despite being surrounded by fish, we were given some inspiration by a Japanese angler who did manage to be in the right spot as the school of rolling tarpon approached and found himself conneccted to a 120lb fish. Our discussions over beer and ceviche had us questioning whether the noise of the outboards kept putting the fish down, how fast could our guides paddle against a 5 knot current (and was it worth it), where were the electric motors and finally were we all just playing a game of luck. Most of us came to the conclusion that it would be better to be lucky than good over the coming week.
And thats exactly what Aussie angler Andy Congram was early the next morning before heads could clear and the day could begin in earnest. Our arrival at another arbitruary mark in the ocean was immediately met by a wave of tarpon descending on us as we floated silently, with Andy on the deck, the trap was set. What seemed like a 100 porposing tarpon were going to run straight into the side of the boat if they continued on their path. A short 40 foot cast saw Andy’s 2/0 black death slowly sinking in front of the approaching school and it resulted in an aerial display from a 130lb fish that will long live in my memory. What a great start to the week. Day 2, a big fish landed, the pressure was off this was going to be the best weeks fishing of our life.
And then it blew.
WIND..........
Its every fly fishermans worst nightmare, particularly those who intend to fish exposed waters from a boat. Within an hour of Andy landing that fish the sea had chopped up and it was time to escape deep into the mangrove system to find some shelter and concentrate on the babyies. Eve quickly had us on some enticing flats of about 6 feet where baby tarpon in the 10-30lb range were rolling about. Staking out these flats and waiting for the fish to come was the order of the day. With a fish jumped it was time for Eve to pole us deep into the interior of Isla Holbox. The water was getting shallower and the fish smaller. Tight in the mangroves tarpon in the 2-10 lb range cruise, ambushing baitfish, rolling and leaving a trail of bubbles. These guys can be fun and casting accuracy is put to the test. Andy managed to finish the day with a baby of a couple of pounds completing a full circle in the tarpon life cycle.
That day would be our last chance to fish outside as the frustrations of the wind intensified for guides and angler throughout the week. Knowing that the big fish were out there, out of reach, each morning we would awake listening, hoping for silence. We were greeted by the whine of wind through the surrounding palms. It was always there.
Nothing batters and angler more than battling the wind. It eats at your casting, it saps at your energy, it wears at your patience. With each night comes new promise that the dawn will bring silence. No whistlings windows, no howling though the palm leaves but for us it never arrives.
Gear and Techniques
Anyone planning a trip to Isla Holbox should be aware that if you want to chase the big oceanic fish then there are 3 requirements. A good strong12 weight rod, a 600 grain shooting head, and a months practice casting this ungainly combination prior to your trip. A 10 weight rod has been used and results in excessively long battles increasing the stress on both angler and fish. One angler spent 3 and half hours fighting a fish and this was wholly due to inadequate rod choice. Fishing the shallow flats a 9wt outfit with floating line is ideal and in the mangroves a 7 or 8 weight is adequate for the babies.
Tarpon leaders are often debated and are probably every anglers first question when they set out on their first tarpon trip. What leader do I use? There are many schools of thought on this with leader construction approaches mainly stemming from the often fussy fish from the Florida Keys or those meeting the requirements of IGFA standards. It was also the first question asked by our guide as we stepped up to the casting deck. Eve wanted it simple. Eight feet of straight through 80lb. It was good advice as maxium pressure was applied by Andy’s on his fish knowing that the chance of busting it off was remote. He knocked it over in 30 minutes. Good for the fish and good for maintaining a harmonious boat. Tapered leaders that are conductive to good turnover of non-aerodynamic flies are essential for the baby tarpon fishing. Much of the baby tarpon fishing is about casting in tight to mangroves often requiring flies to get deep under overhanging foliage.
Fly choice is very much inline with standard tarpon patterns. Guides preferences were very much dependant on colour choice rather than the pattern itself. Oceanside red and black or orange and black in size 2/0 always drew a favorable nod from the guide. Black deaths were the standard pattern. Inshore size became more important. Smaller sized flies were preferred with size 2 chartruese toads accounting for most of our fish with the latest floaty fly also drawing implosive stops of the flyline. Epoxy shrimps were also effective fishing in tight to the mangroves and if you add a few clousers to the mix for jacks when walking the beaches then you will have most bases covered.
What Could Have Been!!
I picture a fly fishing location that could have had it all. Bonefish and permit on the shallow flats, big jack crevalle cruising the miles and miles of white sand beach, and just 5 minutes offshore packs off gigantic tarpon rolling in the sun. Unfortunately the developments of the Cancun region to the south have a huge appetite for fresh fish and this has resulted in extensive netting of the inshore waters around Isla Holbox. The habitat is ideally suited to bonefish and permit and a 2 hour run south sees you in the Isla Mujeres a prolific bonefish and permit fishery. At Holbox however the strings of gill nets along the golden syrup beaches and the daily loading of the Cancun bound fresh fish ship by the local fishermen has obviously impacted on the local fish population. The sole survivors are the tarpon themselves. Why? Most probably because the big migrating fish that make this location a special one to visit have a semi permanent association with these waters and the babies hang in tight to the mangroves avoiding the undiscriminating beach nets. And while it is easy to criticise the overfishing it was obvious that the local fishermen in their corrugated dwellings are ekking out a basic living. If anything it should encourage more anglers to travel to Holbox to ensure that this outstanding tarpon fishery is protected and with some answered prayers from whatever wind god you worship you may just get a tarpon fishing experience that would be hard to match anywhere else in the world.
Mat Mchugh runs Fly Odyssey specialists in fly fishing holidays and adventures around the world